I Don't Want to Lose You, Period
by Hetaku-kun
Summary: Erwin was known for being one of the most fearless leaders in the entire Scouting Legion, but after "that incident", everything changed. He starts to worry about Armin Arlert, his caretaker, for that he will lose him if he doesn't do something. Then, he is given a second chance to protect his intelligent subordinate, but what will the commander of the Scouting Legion do with it?


**I Don't Want to Lose You, Period. Ch.1**

**Rating: T**  
**Fandom: Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin**  
**Pairing(s): Winmin, Arwin, or however you want to call it (Erwin x Armin)**  
**Warning(s): spoilers from Attack on Titan/SnK, mild language, somewhat OOC**  
**Disclaimer: I do not Attack on Titan.**  
**A/N: This takes place after Chapters 49 and 50.**

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"Armin," the commander moaned. "Armin, no. No, no. No."

"NO!" Commander Erwin woke up rather abruptly. His hand trembled from fear. Throughout his expeditions, he had never actually had experienced fear. Nor did he go deep into a relationship. Not since the time when he met a kind and caring woman who later became his wife. The same woman whom Erwin had deeply regretted losing on that day. Was the commander experiencing fear of some kind?

Erwin sat up and turned to his right side. He stared at what used to be his right arm. A useless stub took the place of his right arm during his mission to rescue Eren (for military purposes, mind you). If he hadn't lost his arm, he wouldn't have been in this situation on guilt and regret, also making poor Armin suffer from the burden of assisting the handicapped commander. There was nothing wrong about Armin that bothered the Scouting Legion commander at all. But what is it about Armin that attracted Erwin?

Sure, Armin was a great strategist. His intelligence was above average that his skill even got other supreme leaders to take him seriously (at least on military matters, that is). But it was more than just his intellect that he was after. After losing his arm, Armin was assigned to assist and take care of Erwin. The two had bonded with each other (usually with conversations about strategies and such) ever since.

Someone knocked on the door. "C-come in," the commander told the person at the door, his voice slightly shaky.

The door opened. A rather short man wearing a cravat stared at Erwin, peeking from the slightly open doorway. Erwin recognized him.

"Commander," the man said to him. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, Levi," Erwin replied. "But can you do me a favor, though?"

"What is it?"

"Bring Armin Arlert in here. I have something urgent to tell him."

"May I ask why?"

"No. This will be solely be between him and me."

"Alright."

Levi went out the door and left.

Armin had slept soundly in his sleep. Though the room was quite lively (due to Eren and Jean's constant arguing), he somehow managed to sleep through it.

But for some reason tonight, the room was suspiciously quiet. Everyone in the room was fast asleep. This is the perfect opportunity to grab Armin and leave without anyone else's notice. But of course, Erwin would rather have Armin conscious and well-informed of the situation he was about to face between him and the commander.

Levi snuck into the room, leaving a slight opening in the doorway. After approaching the young blond, he shook him slightly. Armin woke up with half-closed eyes.

"Ngh... Corporal...?" he groggily questioned.

"The commander wants to see you," Levi whispered to him. "Come on."

"But why?" Armin quietly asked.

"Never told me. It'll only be between you and him, so you'll have to find out on your own. As soon as we get to Erwin's room, I'm leaving. From that point, you're on your own," Levi explained as he walked him to the commander's door.

Armin turned away and sighed. "Yes, Corporal."

Erwin couldn't stand to wait any longer. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead and all over his exposed arms (or at least, arm) and upper half of his body. His breathing was inconsistent, and he felt cold and warm at the same time from the perspiration. He trembled all over. He was on the verge to panic. _It's okay,_ Erwin thought to himself. _You're the commander of the Scouting Legion, you're not supposed to panic._

The door was knocked again. "Come in," Erwin told the person at the door, his voice trembling slightly.

The door opened to reveal Armin Arlert, still in his sleepwear. "C-commander...?" he mumbled tiredly.

"Come in," Erwin repeated. "Please."

The young blond closed the door and walked to Erwin's bed.

"Why did you call me here?" Armin questioned.

"I have something to ask of you," the commander told him. He turned his head away and blushed. "Y-you don't mind if you... sleep with me... do you?"

Armin was shocked. He tilted his head down and blushed. "N-no, sir. Not at all," he replied, stuttering with embarrassment. "But may I ask why?"

Erwin froze. He stared at his left hand (his _only_ hand), which twitched occasionally after a few seconds or so. His breathing became shaky. He tilted his head down to prevent the young blond from seeing his newly-formed tears. His attempts to prevent him from crying only resulted in short sobs.

"Commander...?" Armin asked him, concerned. "Is everything okay?"

Erwin continued sobbing. Armin took the commander's hand with both of his own and held it, hoping it would bring the commander back to his senses. "Commander. Commander. _Commander!_"

_Okay, so that didn't help,_ Armin thought to himself. _What next?_ He took a deep breath. _Oh, well. Here goes._

"Erwin."

Upon hearing his own subordinate refer to him by his name, his real name, he immediately started to calm down.

"Erwin," Armin said again. He turned his gaze to face the young blond.

"Arlert," he whimpered. Erwin pulled the young blond in and wrapped him with his arm around him. Did he do anything wrong?

"Erwin," Armin managed to say as he was bound to the commander's emotional embrace. He never typically saw the commander show emotion (if _any_ at all). Armin had seen the leader of the Scouting Legion have worse times, but never like this.

Erwin stopped crying, but he still continued trembling from an unknown fear. "Erwin," the young blond said to him as he wrapped his arms around the shaky commander. "What happened?"

Erwin stopped crying, but he still continued trembling from an unknown fear. "Erwin," the young blond said to him as he wrapped his arms around the shaky commander. "What happened?"

"I-" Erwin didn't know how to explain it. "I was... I mean, I had... a dream... Well, a nightmare, more like. You were in danger. I was injured. I wanted... I wanted to save you, but... I couldn't make it. You were gone."

"Erwin," Armin said, attempting to calm the commander down. "In what way would I be 'gone'?"

"I lost you. You were gone," Erwin explained to him between sobs. "Arlert, since you have done your job caring for me, are you able to keep a secret?"

"What do you mean?"

Erwin sighed. He pulled the young blond tighter in his embrace. "There are two types of people in the world: ones who I care about and ones who are close to my heart."

"Armin, if I may refer to you by that name," he waited for a response. The young blond nodded in agreement.

"You are one of those people who I care about deeply and are very dear to my heart," Erwin told him. "In other words, I... I love you."

Armin was shocked (again.). He was surprised that Erwin, the commander of the entire Scouting Legion, would confess this to a subordinate. Out of all the soldiers Erwin has in the Scouting Legion, it had to he him.

"R-really?" Armin stuttered in embarrassment.

"Yes," Erwin answered. "I do."

After the commander confirmed the confession, Armin made his wrapped arms around Erwin tighter, getting more of the warmth from the commander's heated body. "So will you sleep with me tonight?"

"Yes, Erwin."

They both lay down on the bed, their body heat quickly warming the cold spot on the sheets. The two intelligent blonds brought their embrace into their sleep. Armin gripped his hands against Erwin's shoulders, his hands not large enough to cover the whole part, as he tried to get more of the commander's warmth.

"How is it?" Erwin asked the young blond as he pulled his blanket over him and Armin (with his arm).

"Very nice," Armin replied to him, tired. The two soldiers both drifted into slumber an hour or so later.

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**A/N: **I originally wrote this out on paper, but I changed a few things on the final draft. Also, sorry if I made Erwin seem OOC. Don't blame me, the idea just came to me...


End file.
